Tails' Adventure
by Naouma Koi
Summary: When the Battle Bird Armada invades Cocoa island, who's going to stop them from getting their hands on the shards of the Chaos Emeralds that reside there? Enter Miles Prower, poor orphaned kit who looks up to Sonic the Hedgehog from the stories he's heard of the blue blur's defeat of the horrible Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Thinking of his blue hero, Miles blasts into action.
1. Prologue

The small yellow-orange kit sighed and wiped his eyes, turning to stare angrily at the place he was forced to take lessons every day. He didn't even understand why he had to take those lessons anyway. They were far beneath his level of understanding, and they were taking forever to get even halfway to where he was academically.

The kit stuck his tongue out at the horrible little building. He didn't like to make a spectacle of himself like that, crying about things. It actually took a fair bit to make him that upset about anything anymore. Making fun of his twin tails however… Well, that was a sure way to make him angry. He wasn't even sad and upset! He was just angry and frustrated, which made him cry as though he was sad.

Shaking his head, he continued on his way home. The eight-year-old kit lived by himself in his family's old home right off the coast of Cocoa Island, one of the islands of the Delta Ocean. His parents, as far as he knew, had died long ago, leaving him to fend for himself at the age of four. He'd learned quickly what a cruel world this could be, with people giving him barely enough food to live on, let alone clothes and things for home. The other islanders, though not cruel in nature, had almost gotten him removed from his old home twice in the four years since, but he'd managed to wiggle out of their grasp both times, telling lies like that his parents were away on a really long trip.

The other islanders had eventually figured out that they shouldn't talk about it to foreigners, and Miles had been left alone ever since to let his bright blue eyes take in everything from the different plants to his father's robotics manuals. Since he started looking at things like that, he'd also started tinkering with the things in his father's old lab. In the end, Miles had created a little remote-controlled robot that had become his constant companion. The only place he didn't take his little robot buddy was to school. The teachers didn't like it, so he was forced to leave it at home.

While thinking of what he would do when he returned to his home finally, Miles caught sight of something metallic down the beach from where his home was. It was the front end of a fortress-sized ship coming in to dock, except it wasn't a very friendly looking ship. Miles looked at the ship a little closer for any detail he might recognize and found that it belonged to the Battle Bird Armada, a legendary army of bird-furries who roamed the seas looking for any treasure they could possibly plunder.

Without another thought, Miles ran for his little home, wanting to get there before they fully docked and started to disembark from the decks above. When he reached his little home, he rushed inside for his remote robot and some supplies, knowing that they would raid his little home very early on. He grabbed everything he would need to survive in the wild for a few days and raced out the back way, right into a field of tall grasses. Miles sat down there, completely hidden by the tall grasses, and tried to think of reasons why the Battle Bird Armada would be there of all places.

"Oh no," he said, thinking out loud. "They've come for the Chaos Shards."


	2. 01: Aquamarine Memories

Sitting there with his little robot, Miles felt the memories coming on, memories of the day his mother gave him his Chaos Shard.

_He had been very small, but the memories were still so vivid, though he wasn__'__t sure if it was his mind remembering, or that of the Aquamarine shard. At the delicate age of three, Rosemary Prower decided that it was time he learned what he was going to do one day. A prominent Seer, she had known for a long time of her and Amadeus__' __untimely departure from Miles__' __life. She didn__'__t like it anymore than he would when the time came, but it couldn__'__t be helped._

_Miles was busy playing with one of the robotic toys his father had created for him when she interrupted. __"__Miles, come here for a moment.__" __She called to him from the other room. She heard her three-year-old abandon his toy and come racing into the living room where he screeched to a halt right in front of her._

"_What mama?__" __he asked. Miles had always been a smart child, learning to speak in proper sentences early on._

"_Come here.__" __Rosemary patted her lap, and Miles scrambled up at once. She smiled at her little boy. He was still so small, and she was about to place a heavy burden on his shoulders. __"__Miles, do you know what this is?__" __she asked him, producing a necklace with a small aquamarine shard of a gem on it. Miles stared for a few moments before nodding twice._

"_That__'__s a Chaos Shard, isn__'__t it mama? How did you get one?__" __the little kit stared at the Shard in absolute awe. Rosemary smiled. She__'__d expected him to know what it was, and it was quite a relief to know that she wouldn__'__t have to explain to him why it was important._

"_Yes. This is a Shard of the Aquamarine Chaos Emerald from long ago. It has been handed down in my family for a long, long time, Miles. Now I__'__m going to give it to you.__" __She said. Rosemary watched as the stunned look on her son__'__s face became a look of confusion._

"_Is this that thing you told me I would get for my tenth birthday?__" __he asked suddenly, remembering things that she__'__d told him weeks previously._

"_It is, but things have changed. I__'__m giving it to you now, because I think you understand its importance enough to handle it.__" __The patient woman replied, stroking the fur on her kit__'__s head slowly._

"_Mama?__"_

"_Yes dear?__"_

"_Are you and daddy going away soon?__" __The seemingly innocent question startled the usually calm woman. Thoughts raced through her head as she tried to think of a lie to tell her child. Then it hit her. _A lie to tell her child._ What a cruel thing to do, lying to a small child like Miles._

_Instead, she settled on the truth. __"__Yes, Miles. We will be leaving you soon, but it__'__s not forever. You will see us again, so for now you should enjoy the time you have with us.__" __She said, a tear rolling down her cheek. She hated to tell her young son this, but she feared what would happen if she didn__'__t._

"_Oh. So it will only be for a little while?__" __Miles asked, hope filling his big, blue eyes._

_Rosemary shook her head. __"__No, my son. It will be a long time before you see us again. You may even start to believe that we__'__re gone forever, but as long as you keep this Shard safe, you will see us again.__" _

_The reality of the words she was speaking seemed to be hitting the young kit then, and Rosemary wanted very badly to tell him that it was all just a mean joke and she didn__'__t mean any of it. She stopped herself and wiped the new tears from her face just as Miles started crying loudly, bringing Amadeus running in from his lab. __"__What__'__s wrong? Did he hurt himself?__" __he asked, alarmed by his son__'__s sudden outburst. Miles was an unusually quiet child, not usually crying over anything._

"_No, he__'__s fine.__" __Rosemary replied, a sad smile on her face. Amadeus realized then what she__'__d done and shook his head._

"_You promised you wouldn__'__t tell him!__" __he said, aggravated._

"_He asked, Amadeus. How am I supposed to lie to such an innocent child?__" __She held her young kit close and rocked him softly, humming a soft song to calm him._

"_You promised me!__"_

"_And I promised myself a long time ago that I would never lie to him. Not if he asked me outright. I do the same for you, Amadeus.__"_

_Miles, amid his parents soft argument, cried himself to sleep in his mother__'__s arms, not even wanting to think of what the world would be like without them._

Miles shook his head to shake the memories away so that he would be able to accurately pack a survival bag. He needed to get out of his home as quickly as possible if the Battle Bird Armada was really landing that close to where his home was.

That's when the door burst open and a member of the Armada ran into the little house, blade outstretched. Miles stared for only a second before deciding it would be better to cower than fight right then. He hid beneath a tall stool behind the table in the corner of the room and shivered. It was cold in that corner, which helped him produce the look of fear that he needed to wear.

The members of the Battle Bird Armada didn't really scare Miles, not like the commander did. This member was a lower member, judging by the marks on his jacket. He scanned the room for a moment before locking eyes on Miles, cowering in the corner. "You, kit!"

"Y-yes?" Miles barely peeked from behind his hands.

"Do you know anything about the Chaos Shard's locations on this island?" he asked outright, not even bothering to offer torture if Miles didn't tell him anything. This bird was obviously a lower ranking Bird for a reason, and Miles fought to hold laughter back.

"No, s-sir. N-nothing…" he said finally after pretending to give it some real thought.

The Bird didn't ask anything else. He searched the little home briefly before leaving, seeming to have forgotten about the young, frightened kit in the corner.

As soon as the door clicks shut, Miles crawls out of his hiding place, dusts the spiders off of himself, and sets about the house, finding everything he would need to survive in the wild of the island for three or four days. Then he packed up his remote robot and heads for the door, but not before a flash of blue races through his head.

"I wonder what Sonic would do in this situation?" he asked aloud, as he often spoke aloud to himself. Such was the price of living alone for four years.


	3. 02: Poloy's Forest

Miles sat and pondered about Sonic the Hedgehog for a while. He'd heard some vague stories about what happened on South Island, but no solid information about it had come his way. For all he knew, he was hero-worshiping a blue hedgehog who'd accidentally bumped into Dr. Robotnik and made him fall over, flailing his arms in the air and knocking out his own instruments. Sonic might not have done anything at all, but Miles didn't really care. The stories and rumors gave him someone to look up to, someone to idolize, and he hadn't had that since his parents had left him.

Miles shook his head again, to rid himself of those thoughts once more. "If Sonic really is as brave as they say, I'll bet he'd come up with a plan. But what would it be?" The young kit thought long and hard about this, and finally came up with something that seemed like it would be suitable. "I'll bet, if Sonic were here, he'd go out and collect all the Shards before the Armada could get them!" Miles made his decision with that idea in mind. "I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna find the Chaos Shards and protect Cocoa Island!" he said, nodding. He packed the last of what he would need into his bag and practically ran out the door.

Through a small field of tall grasses that lay right outside his back door was a forest known as Poloy's Forest. It was a vast, lush forest on the small island, and Miles often liked to spent time in the shade of the trees there. Suddenly there was a loud explosion from somewhere inside the forest and Miles felt his jaw drop as the flames began to engulf the treetops. The birds of the island were fleeing before his very eyes, and there was nothing the little kit could do to stop that raging inferno!

"They'll destroy the whole island that way if they keep this up!" he cried, taking off into the forest despite the fires. His Aquamarine Shard was lighting up in a way he'd never seen before, and it felt like it was telling him to go into the forest. His mother had told him long ago to trust the mysterious stone with everything if a time of danger should fall upon him, and he wasn't about to let her down.

He plunged into Poloy's Forest as fast as his small legs would take him, coughed a few times, and ran back out to figure out how he was supposed to breathe while he was in the forest. After a long pause and some serious thought, Miles pulled a long thin cloth from his bag. He tied it around his head, covering his nose and mouth with it, and made sure it was tight enough that it wasn't going to fall off. Then, for added security, he took out the jug of water and doused the cloth, and the rest of himself for that matter, in it. After that, he plunged into the forest once more.

Able to breathe this time, Miles stared around eagerly, hoping for any sign of the Shard that was supposedly there. The Aquamarine Shard didn't waver, the light it was giving off pointing him down one of the many forest paths. He followed the light carefully, very aware of his surroundings. Within the first fifteen minutes of wandering, he'd knocked two members of the Armada out cold with large rocks shot from his sling shot. After checking their pockets, he'd wandered on, continuing his search.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, a ruby twinkle caught his eye as he was walking. Unfortunately, it also caught the eye of two members of the Battle Bird Armada. The turned toward it just in time to see a small girl, a squirrel, drop from the trees and scoop it up. She jumped back up quickly, but it wasn't fast enough, and Miles watched the two Armada members take her away.

Not wanting to lose the Shard, he followed them, keeping to shadows and the occasional bush. They emerged into a sort of camp near what Miles assumed was the heart of the forest. He watched closely, but made sure to keep himself out of sight. After all, there would be no mission if he got caught as well. They put her in a makeshift prison cell, a barbaric thing made of long branches and rope, and tie her up so she can't get away. _'__I guess they just think the red glimmer was a piece of jewelry or something__…'_ Miles though, watching as they didn't even try to get the Shard from her.

After another few minutes of watching, Miles sighs inwardly. The girl wasn't moving much, and he needed to get that Shard. _'__Looks like I__'__m off on a rescue mission! I wonder how Sonic would do that?__'_ he thought, making his way, unseen, into the small camp.

There were only four members of the Armada left. From behind a bush, Miles took careful aim at the first one, letting a large rock fly when he had the Bird's head in sight as the target. He heard the crack and crouched low again, crawling silently to another bush. When he looked out again, there were only three of them awake, the fourth one had fallen backwards off of the log he'd been sitting on. From the looks of it, and the sounds of laugher from the other two, he'd landed in a large pile of animal droppings. Miles sniggered silently before taking aim at the next one and letting lose another rock. That time, however, he didn't get down fast enough, and the two remaining Bird's saw him. They got up and began advancing on him, one with a hand on a horn at his side to call others if necessary.

Miles frowned at this Bird. "Really? You're going to call back up for a little kit like me?" he said, shaking his head. In reality, he was terrified, his heart racing. He could feel the sweat in the palms of his hands too, but he had already made his decision, and he wasn't about to back down.

The Bird he'd been mocking removed his hand from the horn, continuing to advance on Miles. "You're right," he said. "That would make me pretty pathetic, wouldn't it?" This Bird was in front of the other one then, and he paused for a moment and _winked_.

Miles was taken aback by the friendly gesture. The puzzled look on his face made the second Bird pipe up. "What are you looking at with that weird expression? Daz, I think this kit's been knocked on the head one too many times! Are you seeing the expression on his fa—" The bird was cut off when his partner, Daz, flipped onto his hands and kicked up into his partner's jaw, clearly knocking him unconscious.

Miles felt his jaw drop. "He's much more suitable when he's not flapping his beak." Daz said, shaking his head and straightening up from the kick. Then he saw the shocked expression on Miles' face and laughed. "You can't honestly believe that we all wanted this senseless destruction?" he said, gesturing around to the burning forest.

Miles shook his head. "You didn't..?" he asked a moment later.

"No. I voted for a peaceful search of the island. Or commander over ruled that though, so this is what we got stuck with." Daz shrugged as though it didn't matter that he'd just kicked another member of the Armada.

"So… What about this?" Miles gestured around, indicating the situation.

Daz smiled. "This is me telling you to take your squirrel and get out of here. I know she has that Shard we saw in the forest, but I really don't care at this point. I'm done with this joke of an organization." With that last bit of information he turned and walked back to the log he'd been sitting on.

"Thank you." Miles said, rushing over to the girl. She was awake and staring at him through the widely-spaced bars. Miles stepped through the gap easily and pulled the gag from her mouth. "I'm going to need that Shard." He said, looking at her questioningly, wondering where she'd hidden it. The girl frowned.

"No." She said, sticking her nose into the air.

"I'm Miles Prower. What's your name?" Miles asked casually as he slowly began to untie the ropes.

"Celina Freznut. I'm not giving it to you."

"Why not?"

"How do I know you're not with them?" she jerked her shoulder toward Daz and the unconscious Birds.

"I'm not with the Armada, but neither is Daz."

"Prove it!"

Miles sighed and dug around in his chest fur for a moment, pulling out his Aquamarine Shard. He showed it to her very briefly before tucking it away again. Celina stared at it for a fraction of a second before he put it away, but that was enough. She sighed. "I'm still not giving it to you, but I won't run away." She said. Miles smiled and finished untying her rather quickly, letting her up after that.

Celina gave a sideways glance at Daz before heading out of the little camp, Miles right on her heels.

Celina was about half the size of Miles, being a small breed of squirrel. She had brilliant green eyes and dark, dark brown fur in top of which she wore a frayed pair of jean shorts and a light pink tank top. Miles kept up with her easily, but he nearly ran her over when she stopped suddenly in the middle of the trail. "What are you doing with a Chaos Shard!?" she asked suddenly, rounding on him with a blaze of furious curiosity in her eyes.

"My mother gave it to me a long time ago and told me to always protect it. You're the first person I've ever shown it to." Miles replied easily.

"You said your name is Miles Prower? Didn't the Prower folk disappear a few years ago?"

"Yeah, my parents went away then. They didn't tell me why, but they didn't take me with them either." Miles could feel the loneliness swelling inside of himself. He always felt really lonely when he thought of them leaving without him.

"You have two tails… Can I call you Tails?" Celina smiled at him. To her it seemed like an endearing thing to give someone a nickname.

Miles stared for a moment before nodding. "I guess so, though I've never had anyone call me that for any reason other than to mock and ridicule me for it."

"I think it's cool. I'll bet if you could spin them fast enough you could fly." Celina grinned for the first time. She had decided that she liked Tails.

Miles had never thought of that. He gave them a test twirl and found that they did actually have enough volume to lit him, but he was pretty sure it would be a while yet before he could fly with them. He'd need to build up the muscles. "You're probably right, actually." He said at last, returning her smile. "Are you sure I can't hold onto that Shard though? I really think we should keep them together."

Celina thought about that for a moment. It was both a good idea and a very bad idea, but she supposed she owed him that much for coming to rescue her at all. "Fine but you can't go running off on your own with them. I want to protect them too!" she said, pulling the Ruby Shard out of her pocket.

"Deal." Miles agreed, taking it from her. He pulled off his necklace with the Aquamarine Shard on it and sat down for a moment, pulling a little kit out of his pack. He used his tools to put a little hole in the Ruby Shard so that he could slip the chain of the necklace through it as well. Then he put his things away and stood back up. He stared at the two Shards for a few moments, wondering what their reaction would be when they touched. Finally, after much thought, he decided to just do it. He slipped the chain through the hole he'd made in the Ruby Shard and let them fall together.

A blinding light engulfed Miles Prower, and suddenly he was lying motionless on the ground next to his new squirrel companion.


	4. 03: Ruby Memories

_Miles found himself in a place that looked much like the center of the little village on Cocoa Island, but it was quite a bit different from what he__'__d become used to. The buildings all looked like new, and there were screens everywhere, depicting many things. There were robotic inventions everywhere and the entire population seemed to be twin-tailed foxes, just like Miles. There were many variations of fur color, but that didn__'__t change what these people were._

_As he looked over the area, Miles felt a frown fall into place on his face. The air was smokey and people were running in every direction, seemingly panicked over something. Then he could finally hear things in this strange place and what he heard sent him into panic mode himself. Looking around, he really wasn__'__t sure what to do. Smiling despite his fear of the raging war before him, Miles began to wonder just how accurate the writings of his little island were. Throughout school he__'__d been ridiculed by students and teachers alike for his twin-tails, but here it looked as though that species, _his species_, had once made up almost the entire population of Cocoa Island. The books claimed that there had always been a variety of species there, but none of them had ever mentioned even a single twin-tail such as Miles._

_Deciding that, since he__'__s there, he should learn as much about the Shards as he can, he begins watching and listening for any sign or mention of them. Quite suddenly he sees a glimmer of Ruby on a kid that looks to be his own age. He follows this kid out of the town and into the woods. The kid doesn__'__t even look to see if there__'__s anyone watching as he kneels low to the ground and digs a Shard out of it._

_After that, the kit ran farther into the forest, right into the thick of battle. While Miles is avoiding arrows and knives and swords all over the place, he sees the kit get shot in the arm. Refusing to stay down, the kit stands back up, pulls the arrow out expertly, and runs on, holding a hand over the would to help staunch the bleeding. The boy races into a cave located right in Poloy__'__s Forest and bows deeply. __"__I__'__ve retrieved the Ruby Shard for you.__" __He says, handing the Shard over to an elderly twin-tail who has his hood up. Miles can__'__t make out any features beneath it._

_The elderly twin-tail, however, can see Miles just fine and the last thing Miles sees before the scene dissolves is an ice cold smile._

Miles found himself flat on his back in the very cave he had just been in. He stares around for a moment before he spots Celina. "What happened?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper from all the smoke damage.

Miles found the strength to sit up and frowned. "I was in the past I think, and I saw a boy like me give the Ruby Shard to an old man with a scary-cold smile." He said, trying to recall everything that he'd seen. That seemed to be the only thing he could remember.

Celina frowned. "Are you sure you weren't just dreaming? You _did_ pass out in the forest."

"I passed out?"

"Yep. After that flash of light from the Shards connecting, you were out cold on the ground. The Armada was closing in on us after that flash too, so I dragged you here as well as I could while keeping us fairly hidden.

Miles suddenly felt very grateful for his new companion.

"Thank you very much Celina. You didn't have to do that."

"I had to protect the Shards somehow, and you wouldn't let go of them no matter how hard I pulled, so I had to take you with me!"

Miles sighed. It seemed that it would take a bit longer for Celina to fully trust him. He would just have to prove himself then.


	5. 04: Volcanic Tunnel

A sudden explosion right outside their cavern shook them out of their peaceful state. Miles jumped up and collected their things from around the area while Celina picked up her own small pack and put some things into it as well. Just as they were finished, three members of the Armada raced into the cavern. The two youngsters barely had time to throw themselves behind the rocks near the back of the small cavern before the Birds were on them, armed beak and feather. Tails took one out with a well-aimed rock from the slingshot, and Celina ran around one's ankles so fast that he got dizzy and fell over. The last one, thankfully for them, was Daz, who tripped himself and let them escape.

Celina tried to go out the front before Miles pointed out a small opening in the back of the cavern. "But that goes into the Volcanic Tunnel!" Celina complained. The Volcanic Tunnel was heated by the lava flow under the Polly Mountain, so it was very hot.

Miles felt bad for her, but knew that there wasn't really any other way. If they left through the front, the Birds would just catch them in Poloy's Forest. Then he'd never save the island. "Sorry Celina. We need to go there anyway."

"Why?"

"This." He'd just noticed it himself, so the shock on Celina's face when she saw the way the Shards were lit up was pretty much still mirrored on Miles' face. The two Shards were lighting up the path ahead of them, showing them the way to the nearest Shard that wasn't them. Miles followed it without second guessing it, since he knew that was how he'd found the Ruby Shard. Celina, however, hadn't been there for that, so she had no reason to trust it.

"That light's gonna get us caught!" she said, glaring at it darkly.

"No it won't. The Armada probably won't even be down here yet.

Celina sighed and started to fan herself. "It's _hot_ down here." She said, looking back longingly.

"I know, but it's not hot enough to kill us as long as we have water, so we'll be fine for a while." Miles began twirling his tails randomly, creating a little bit of a breeze in the stifling cavern. Celina made sure to stay behind him, where she would pick up the coolest bits of that breeze.

"What if it get's hotter?" she asked randomly, not really caring about the answer.

"If it gets any hotter in here then we're all going to die anyway, so it won't matter." Miles replied simply.

"What are you talking about?"

"The only way it can get hotter here is if the mountain is about to erupt. That's when the lava would rise and flood these tunnels."

Celina gulped. "And just how likely is this?"

"There's only about a three percent chance, so I really doubt it's going to happen." Miles stopped and stared into a crack in the cavern wall, where the light from the two Shards was directing him. He frowned.

"Why did you stop?" Celina asked. "And what _is_ that light anyway?"

"I stopped because the light's pointing this way now. And the light is the magnetic pull that the emeralds have with one another. When there are two near each other but not within two feet, they will glow. With the bigger emeralds it would be flashes. With the shards, they could actually point in the right direction because of the facets of the pieces." Miles explained. He sat down and pulled his little robot out of his bag and placed it on the ground right next to the opening in the wall. When he was satisfied that it wasn't going to topple over or something, he pulled the remote out of his bag as well and stood up, turning the little robot on.

Celina watched in awe. The remote for the robot was quite an advanced piece of technology. It had buttons, a directional pad and a little screen that showed Miles what the little robot was seeing. Slowly the young kit propelled the little robot into the crevice. The little robot went through easily, not getting stuck or even scraping against the wall. It went deeper and deeper into the tunnel wall and, after almost ten minutes of propelling the little robot forward through the tiny crevice, Miles decided that the Shard wasn't in that crevice at all. As he begins to back the robot out of the hole, they hear movement in the main tunnel.

Celina puts a finger to her lips and dashes off in the direction of the strange sound. She comes back a few moments later, a smile on her face. "It's just a robot. Actually, it's a few. The actual members of the Armada don't seem to be here, though I can't say I blame them." She said, watching as Miles resumed backing his robot out of the crevice. Once it was finally out, Miles picked it up and examined it for scratches. When he was satisfied there were none, he put his pack bak on and started down the tunnel again, the little robot following behind the two curries at his command.

Down the tunnel a bit, where Celina had seen the Armada robots, they stopped to get their bearings. Miles looked at the robots, trying to figure out how they were made. Once he'd discovered their weak points, he relayed the information to Celina. The two of them took the three robots out quietly and continued down the tunnel a bit farther, until the Shards lit up again. They were, once again, pointing directly into a crevice in the tunnel wall, so Miles guided the little robot into the crevice. Before the robot entered the hole this time, however, he extended one of it's 'hands' and gave it one of the Shards from his necklace. Celina protested. "What if it breaks?"

"It won't. And even if it does, I have a way to get it back. Besides, if it carries a Shard with it, the Shard will tell us what direction we need to go up here if the other Shard isn't in this hole like the last one." Miles explained his reasoning and Celina reluctantly let it go, watching the little screen on the remote closely.

Miles took the robot into the crevice carefully, watching the path and the Shard carefully. A little ways into the crevice, the Shard started giving off a more centralized glow, pointing them somewhere to the left of the robot's position in the tunnel wall. This meant that the two curries needed to turn left at the tunnel split. With this information, Miles backed the robot back out of the crevice and they continued on through the tunnel.

"This is going to take forever." Celina sighed.

"But at least we have my robot, otherwise you'd have to wiggle into all of these crevices." Miles replied, a grin on his face.

"I wouldn't do it."

"You say that now, but if the need arose, I'm sure you'd do whatever it took to get the Shards."

"How do you know that?"

"You said before that you wanted to protect them, and our island."

Celina didn't say anything after that, opting to just follow him slowly. After a few more minutes, they came to yet another crevice, which yielded the same results as the first two, though closer to the entrance. "We must be getting close…" Miles said, walking on as though it wasn't irritating that they hadn't yet found the Shard. Celina wanted to scream.

At the next crevice, the Shard glowed brighter than at any of the others. Miles grinned and directed the robot into the crevice, which was actually larger than any of the others. Not even two minutes into the crevice, the Shard came up on the screen of the remote. "There it is!" Miles exclaimed. Celina smiled. It looked like they would be able to leave the tunnel fairly soon after all. Miles released the arms from the remote robot and tried to grab the Shard with it. It wouldn't take hold. "I can't get it…" he said.

"Let me see." Celina got right in front of the crevice to see where the robot was. "I could get in there…" she offered. Miles nodded and backed the robot out. Once it was out of the crevice, Celina sat down on the ground and pushed her way into the small space. She got back to where the Shard was fairly quickly and went to take it. At that exact moment, in the main tunnel where Miles was, a rather large Armada robot came around the corner on a patrol. It spotted Miles while he was analyzing it and started toward him. Miles determined that the weak point of the large robot was its neck, where he could see a sliver of red that looked like it might be a switch of some kind.

The young kit pulled his sling shot out as he backed away from the robot. He took aim and released a large rock at the robot. It never even came close to the spot on the robot's neck. The large robot had put it's arm up in defense of it's weak point, which led Miles to believe that he was exactly right about it. But now the little kit had a problem. How was he supposed to get to it now? The slingshot, it was apparent, was absolutely useless. Long-range attacks wouldn't reach the robot. _'__What would Sonic do?__'_ the little kit thought. In response to that thought, he launched himself toward the robot, deciding that Sonic would simply get closer and try again.

The robot readied itself to attack the kit and, as it launched its assault, Miles leapt into the air and took aim with his sling shot again. He was only about two feet from his target this time, and the rock definitely made contact, knocking a dent into the metal around the red switch, but not hitting the switch. He landed and rolled to the side, the robot's large arm slamming down in the spot he'd been in only seconds before.

Heart pounding, Miles jumped again. The robot swung toward him. Without thinking, he twitched his tails in a quick circle and sailed out of the robot's reach, but within reach of that red switch, which he attacked with another rock. This time the rock hit spectacularly, lodging itself into the space between the metal pieces of the robot's neck.

Miles landed and the robot collapsed in a heap just as Celina was emerging from the crevice with the Shard of the Peridot Chaos Emerald. Miles held out his hand for the Shard and Celina shook her head. "No. We should wait until we're away from here." She said, tucking it away in the pocket of her shorts.

Miles frowned but didn't object. He actually thought it was a good idea.

They walked through that tunnel for what felt like hours before they came to a fork that had light at the end of it. Outside, they discovered that they had reached the base of the Polly Mountain. Miles looked around and, when he was sure there were no members of the Armada nearby, he held his hand out for the Shard again. "What about now?" he asked.

Celina smiled and pulled the Shard out of her pocket and handed it to Miles. "Sure Tails." She said, watching him as he drilled a little hole in it just like the others. He added it to the necklace and was almost blinded by the light.


	6. 05: Peridot Memories

_Miles found himself in the Volcanic Tunnel of the distant past, though the word __'__volcanic__' __wasn__'__t exactly what he would have used to describe it back then. It was warm, yes, but not stiflingly hot like the one from his own time. Quietly, wondering why the Shard had taken him there, Miles wandered through the tunnel. Something told him to turn right at the first split, so he did. Just a little ways down that tunnel, Miles saw evidence that the tunnels were being used as someone__'__s hide out. He kept going until he saw a fire, and the same kit from before lounging next to it._

_The kit, Miles can see as he approaches, is small and slender with a crystal-blue shade of fur and dark eyes. He seemed to be tending to the wound that Miles had seen him get in the previous Shard__'__s memory. As Miles approached, he jumped in fright and pulled a thin knife out of his boot. __"__Who are you and how did you find me!?__" __he demanded, holding the knife in front of him in a defensive position. Miles stopped at once, not wanting to frighten the kit into hurting him._

"_My name is Miles Prower__… __The Shard of the Peridot Chaos Emerald brought me here.__" __Miles replied, holding up the Shards on his necklace. The other kit stared at him for a few moments before lowering the knife._

"_The Shards brought you here? But there are only seven, and I have seen some of the ones that you possess in other places quite recently.__" __He said after a few seconds._

"_My Shards are from the future, like me.__" __Miles responded, tucking his shards into his chest fur once again._

"_From the future you say?__"_

"_Yes.__"_

"_Lets say I believe you. What do you want from me?__" __The kit stared a little too long at the place where Miles__' __Shards were hidden. Miles placed a hand over the spot._

"_I__… __Nothing. Maybe to talk, but that__'__s all.__"_

"_I see.__" __The kit stood up then and went over to a small pile of fire wood, picked a piece up, and returned to the fire, placing the piece into it._

"_I promise I__'__m not an enemy stalking you or something__…" __Miles said._

"_I know that. You__'__re a twin-tail.__" __The young kit grinned at the bewildered look on Miles__' __face. __"__My name is Klohin.__" __He said at last, returning to a sitting position near the fire and gesturing for Miles to join him. Miles sat down cautiously and watched the fire for a few moments._

"_Klohin, can I ask you something?__" __he said at last._

"_What?__"_

"_What__'__s going on here? I mean, I saw you last time, when you got that wound, and I saw the battle that was going on, and the textbooks of my time talk about this war, but it doesn__'__t mention twin-tails anywhere. As far as the people in my time are concerned, I__'__m a freak and I don__'__t belong.__" __Miles frowned and looked at Klohin, who was frowning as well, though looking into the fire._

"_Miles, this island is ruled by twin-tails. It__'__s part of our way of life here. I don__'__t understand where they all went in your time, but trust me, you are as natural as anyone else. This war__… __It__'__s between the twin-tails and the invaders from the mainland. They decided about a year ago to take over this island, only they didn__'__t count on us being a technologically advanced society. I__'__m sure you noticed that we have a lot of technology here. That__'__s actually not because this place is run by twin-tails__… __That__'__s because__… __Well, I actually don__'__t know if I should tell you why that is, since you__'__re from the future. Isn__'__t this meddling anyway?__" __Klohin looked at Miles then, searching for an answer._

"_It is, a little, but I don__'__t see what harm information can do as long as I don__'__t use it in any kind of bad way.__" __Miles shrugged and turned his attention to the fire. __"__Besides, there are plenty of people in my life who don__'__t tell me the truth about things, and I would hate to have to add you to that list. Especially since you have no reason not to trust me.__"_

"_Miles, we__'__re a technologically advanced society because of your family. The Prower line is where all of our advances come from.__" __That made Miles look at Klohin again, shock plain on his face._

"_What?__" __he said, not quite believing what he__'__d heard._

"_Your family gives the twin-tails their technology.__" __Klohin repeated. Miles stared at him for a long moment before deciding that he believed him._

"_Doesn__'__t that make them really important or something?__" __he asked._

"_It does. The Prowers hold the most prestige among us twin-tails. Unfortunately the mainlanders figured out where all of our technology comes from in the last month. They besieged the Prower estate and burned it to the ground. No one__'__s seen any of the Prowers since, except they have.__"_

"_What do you mean?__"_

"_The head of the Prower family__… __he cut off one of his tails and used the Shard in his possession to heal the scar away. Everyone has seen him, but no one knows it__'__s him.__" __Klohin sighed. __"__It makes since though, if you think about it. If the whole family did that, then they look like a bunch of peaceful mainlanders here, and that__'__s not unusual at all. We had a few different families from the mainland before they came to take over.__"_

_Miles thought about it for a moment. It did make a lot of sense, he decided. __"__They can still help this way. By keeping their identities unknown they__'__re keeping your technology safe.__" __He said after a moment. Klohin smiled at him and nodded._

"_Exactly. I was thinking the same thing.__" __Klohin shook his head. __"__Anyway, this war began because the Prower line wouldn__'__t give the mainlanders the technology they needed to beat the island natives. Officially, it__'__s only been going on for three weeks. That__'__s when the official declaration came in. Off the records, this battle has been going on for almost five years. That__'__s why I__'__m collecting the Shards for Master Ghonis. He__'__ll put an end to the war.__"_

_The name sounded very familiar to Miles. He was fairly certain that __'__Ghonis__' __was the name of the hero of the Dead War that the textbooks talked about. Even with that in his mind, Miles got this really bad feeling when he thought of the kit before him collecting the Shards for this Master Ghonis. He got an even worse feeling when he thought of Ghonis using them for anything. Especially if Ghonis was the elderly twin-tail from before._

"_Miles?__" __Klohin waved a hand in front of the yellow-orange kit__'__s face. Miles jumped._

"_What?__" __he asked, calming his heart again._

"_You said something about collecting the Shards again in your time? What__'__s going on?__" __Klohin asked._

"_Well, a bunch of pirates called the Battle Bird Armada decided to destroy the island looking for the Shards, thinking that they were the actual Chaos Emeralds. I already had the Aquamarine, and no one else was doing anything about it except my friend Celina Freznut, so I decided that I should collect the Shards and throw these battle birds off the island.__" __Miles gave him a very short version of the events of his own time. He expected Klohin to laugh and ask if that was all. Instead, the blue kit__'__s eyes widened and he turned his gaze to the fire again._

"_This changes things__…" __he muttered just as the scene before Miles was fading away._

'_What exactly does it change?__' _Miles thought, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Looking around he decided that Celina had chosen one of the small caverns that they'd been near as a place to hide that time. "You really seem to like caves." He said, his gaze coming to a halt on Celina, who was at the mouth of the cave.

"Oh hush." She said, shaking her head. She walked over and sat down next to Miles. "Did you get any more of the story this time, Tails?" she asked.

"Yeah. I actually spoke with a kit named Klohin." He smiled at her look of shock and recounted the story of the Dead war's origins.

"You know what I think?" Celina watched him closely. When he prompted her to go on she continued. "I think you may actually be going into the memories of the Chaos Emerald Shards. Actually, it wouldn't be that far fetched for them to really be taking you to the past for a few moments. And each visit seems to be longer than the last, right? Maybe that's because each time you have another Shard and, thus, more power for the memory to draw on."

Miles thought about this for a moment before nodding. "That actually makes a whole lot of sense. And if I wasn't actually going to the past each time, how would I be able to interact with people like Klohin?" he said. Celina just nodded and took a drink out of the water jug from Miles' bag.

A sudden explosion made her dump water all down her front. She squealed because it was cold and then clamped a hand over her mouth, signaling an apology to Miles, who was on his way to the entrance to see how close it was.

He looked around and saw smoke rising out of the small wooded area that was to the right of the small cave. He returned rather quickly to help Celina pack up their things so they could leave before the Armada got there.


	7. 06: High Polly Mountain

Once they were done packing up the few belongings they had brought with them, Miles insisted on looking around outside for the Armada before they both actually left. He went outside the little cave and stood there for a moment, trying to think of the best possible way for him to see their location without them seeing him. Finally he decided what he was going to do.

A quick look around told him that the only person watching him was Celina. He took a deep breath and spun his two tails like a propeller. He'd done it before, but he'd never had the energy to keep it up very long, so he'd never been sure if it would actually lift him off the ground or not. He had three Shards though, and he could feel the difference in his energy then versus his energy without them. After a few moments of cautious wondering he felt himself begin lifting off of the ground. A look of shock crossed his face for a moment before he regained control of that. Miles angled himself so that he would fly straight up to look around and floated to a place just above the trees that surrounded the learning with the cave. He looked around and saw that the explosion they'd heard had actually been right next to the wall where their cave was, but a little down the right side. There didn't seem to be any Armada members in the area, so he signaled down to Celina that she could come out.

When he landed, Celina was staring at him. "I didn't know that would actually work!" she said.

"So you were just making fun of me when you suggested it?" Miles replied, a grin on his face.

"No. I just thought it might be possible someday. Not so soon!"

Miles laughed. "It's only because of the Shards." He said.

"Still! More reason to call you Tails!" Celina grinned.

Miles looked up toward the mountain, which was where they were going next. "This changes things, you know," he said, looking at Celina. She was so small he was almost positive he could carry her while flying like that.

"What do you mean?" she asked, thoughts not going in the same direction.

"We can fly up the mountain now instead of having to hike all the way up." Miles said simply.

"Are you sure you can carry me?"

"Celina, no offense, but you're tiny."

"True."

"Alright, put your pack on and give me your hands."

Celina did as Miles told her and he wrapped his hands around her forearms. She did the same to his and off they flew! Miles flew them up and over the wooded area, toward the Polly Mountain, where he suspected the next Shard would be hidden. Once they were in the high peaks of the mountains, they landed.

Celina scurried off to survey the area and reported back almost immediately. "There are a lot of Birds here Tails." She said.

Miles frowned. He'd expected that, but it was still obnoxious. "I figured there would be. I'll bet that means we're on the right track though, and there's definitely a Shard up here!" he replied.

"Probably." Celina agreed.

Miles grinned and started walking farther up the mountain. They'd landed pretty high, but he didn't want to risk missing the Shard by flying too high. Suddenly a pinkish glare caught his eye at the very peak of the nearest mountain. Celina saw it too and nudged him in the side. "Tails, look at that!" she said.

"Yeah. Do you think that's it?"

"Probably. I'll bet there are a lot of Birds between here and there though." Celina shivered at the thought of being captured again. Miles frowned, thinking about the same thing. It wasn't likely that they would end up in the care of Daz again.

"What do you want to do?" he asked. Celina seemed to be the one with all the good ideas as far as how to proceed. She stared around for a moment before shaking her head.

"Nothing. We'll keep going for now. I mean, we know exactly where the Shard is, right? So there's no reason to wordy until we have to." She said, beginning to walk. Miles followed her.

The two of them made their way up the mountain slowly, making sure to check every step of the way for members of the Armada that might want to stop them. Miles saw a few here and there, but none of them noticed the two small curries making their way up the mountain, so he didn't say anything to Celina. After a fair bit of hiking though, the crowds of the Armada grew too think for them to proceed together. "Tails, I think we should split up. You fly to the Shard and I'll stay down here to distract the Armada if I need to." Miles thought about the suggestion for a moment before agreeing to it.

"Okay. Where should we meet if we get separated?" he said.

Celina thought for a moment. "Do you remember where the cave is that I took you to when you passed out in the forest?"

"Yeah?"

"Then we'll meet there if we ever get separated."

"Okay."

Miles flew above the clouds after surveying the area to make sure he knew where he was going. He didn't want the Armada to see him and the clouds were the best cover he could think of. He also knew he would have the energy he needed to fly so high because of the Shards they'd already collected.

The Shards, meanwhile, glowed simultaneously, leading him in the direction of the peak that held the next one. As soon as they said he was right above it, he plummeted through the cloud cover as fast as he could and landed on the mountain. Grinning, he saw that he'd landed right next to the Shard, which he picked up and drilled a hole in. Then he added it to his necklace. The resulting flash was blinding, and his last thought before the Shard flew him into the past was of how stupid he had just been.

Celina, meanwhile, made her way up the mountain through the treetops. They offered her support where they would send others plummeting toward the ground. Every time she came across another member of the Armada she made sure to toss something down on his or her head, just because she knew they'd never see her in the upper reaches of the trees.

After a little bit she makes it to the very edge of the wooded area of the mountain. Unable to go any farther, she turns her gaze sky ward, where she spots Miles dropping below the cloud cover so fast the Birds didn't have a chance of seeing him.

Spread out before her was a massiveBird camp, a makeshift little building at its center. It probably had a generator and computers and things inside it. She grinned, wondering what kind of havoc she could wreak with a computer. Then she caught sight of the same white flash that all the Birds saw. "You idiot!" she muttered, watching as the Birds swarmed up the mountain.

As soon as they were all out of the camp, Celina hopped out of the trees and headed into the building. She ran right into the center room and found a computer there, just like she'd thought. Quickly she typed in the only command she knew that worked on any computer with a speaker system. A really loud alarm started, and she knew the Birds could hear it. She ran back outside and, sure enough, they were all swarming back toward the base as fast as they could.

Celina, happy with her job, disappeared into the trees.


	8. 07: Amethyst Memories

_The Amethyst Shard took Miles right back to the mountain, though not at the exact same location where he collected the Shard. He looked around for just a few moments and saw Klohin flying up the mountain just as he had not so very long ago. A grin on his face, he waved to the light-hued kit, who landed next to him a few moments later. __"__What are you doing way up here?__" __Klohin asked, staring at Miles like he__'__d never seen him before._

"_I collected another Shard in my time. It seems that every time I get another one, I get more of their past as well. It__'__s like they__'__re trying to tell me a story__…" __Miles replied, watching Klohin carefully. He wasn__'__t sure why, but he had the feeling that he really shouldn__'__t trust Klohin completely._

_Klohin pondered this for a little bit before shaking his head. __"__Where was it?__" __he asked._

"_The peak of the mountain.__"_

"_I suppose that makes sense. To add to that, I can relate. That__'__s supposedly where my next Shard is as well.__" __With that, Klohin jumped up into the sky again and headed for the peak._

_Miles followed him, a few more questions about the war surfacing in his mind. __"__So, in my time, this war is called the Dead War. Do you have any idea why they would name it that?__" __he asked, flying right behind Klohin._

_Klohin dropped a few feet, like he was surprised by Miles__' __presence. He caught himself and landed a few feet farther up the mountain. __"__I don__'__t really know.__" __He said after a few seconds too long. He seemed to know a great deal more than than he was telling Miles._

_Miles frowned, landing next to him. __"__There__'__s nothing you can tell me, is there?__" __he asked. He already knew the answer, but he figured he should ask anyway._

"_No. I can__'__t tell you any more about the war than I told you the last time we spoke. For that matter, I don__'__t think I__'__m even supposed to be talking with you at all. Master Ghonis was quite angry when I told him about you. He says that you__'__re here to ruin everything he__'__s working for.__" __Klohin sighed and shook his head. __"__I like you though, so I__'__m not just going to refuse to speak to you.__"_

"_You didn__'__t expect me to know how to fly, did you? I saw you lose your concentration for a moment.__" __Miles grinned. Klohin smiled._

"_No, I didn__'__t expect it at all with the way you spoke about your time before. You told me that you were the only twin-tail left, so I figured no one had ever shown you. With all of that in mind, I didn__'__t think you would have the strength anyway, but the Shards help with that, don__'__t they?__"_

"_They do. Quite a bit, actually.__"_

_Klohin took off again, heading once again for the peak. __"__Miles, I want you to know that I__"__m not a bad person, okay? I really don__'__t even believe in what he__'__s doing. It__'__s not right, I know that much, and I won__'__t stand for it.__"_

"_Why are you helping him then?__" __Miles was right behind the blue kit again._

"_It__'__s the only way to be close enough to do anything about the situation at hand. Lord Prower understands that and is willing to help me as much as he can, which is how I__'__m finding the Shards in the first place. He gave me this one.__" __Klohin held up the Aquamarine Shard of the past to show Miles, who frowned._

"_My mother gave me mine when I was really young. She told me it had been in her family for a long time.__" __He said, sighing deeply. He really did miss his parents._

"_Oh? The Aquamarine Shard? Are you sure?__"_

"_Yeah. That__'__s the one she gave me.__"_

"_That Shard belongs to the Prower family. It__'__s the only one that has an official seal and everything, so if it was really hers, there should be an official document in your house that defers ownership to your mother. And she probably wrote up one for you to sign when you came of age. Maybe you should check it out?__" __Klohin shrugged._

"_Maybe__… __I__'__ve never seen anything like that though, and I__'__ve lived alone in that house for four years.__" __Miles shook his head. It just didn__'__t make any sense._

"_I don__'__t know what else to tell you. Lord Prower has the documents for it. I__'__ve seen them.__"_

"_No, I believe you__… __I just don__'__t know what it means.__" __Miles, more than anything, wanted to believe that his mother had been telling him the truth. If she hadn__'__t been, then how could he trust that they were still alive? It tested his trust in everything she__'__d ever told him._

"_You want to believe your mother, don__'__t you?__"_

"_Yeah.__"_

"_Then do. It__'__s not like anything I tell you should change your faith in your mother.__"_

_Miles smiled. __"__Thanks, I guess. That makes a lot of sense.__"_

"_You__'__re welcome.__" __Klohin smiled back and the scene faded away._

Miles woke up on the peak of the mountain. The sounds of a mob could be heard below and, as he looked down, he found out why. There was a huge mob of Birds coming up the mountain after him! Immediately miles hid behind a huge rock. Right as he was getting settled in, ready to stay there for a long time, an alarm came on down in the Armada's camp. All of the Birds stopped immediately and turned back around, heading back down the mountain toward their camp.

Miles, knowing that the person behind the alarm had to be Celina, followed the mob of Birds down the mountain a ways, getting to the edge of the camp and not going any farther. He grinned at the chaos that Celina had caused to keep him out of trouble. He watched the chaos unfold for a little bit before getting bored of it and deciding that he needed to go find Celina.

Just as he was about to fly away, something around the log he was hiding behind caught his eye. "Is that…?" he muttered, staring at it. He picked it up and looked it over, a big grin spreading across his face. Without hesitation he took off into the sky, this new thing with him, and headed off to find Celina.


	9. 08: The Submarine

Miles gave up after a few minutes of fruitless searching and headed toward the cavern just off Poloy's Forest. There he saw signs of life and, sure enough, when he entered the little cave, Celina was there waiting for him. "Oh good! I was really hoping that alarm would keep them away for long enough you could get away!" she said, flinging herself at Miles and hugging him as tightly as her little frame would allow.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking up there." Miles replied, hugging her as well. He was very happy that she was okay.

"_That__'__s_ obvious! Tails, you idiot!" Very suddenly she pushed the kit, who stumbled backward into the wall of the cave.

"I'm sorry." He apologized again.

"Did you at least learn anything new?"

"Not really. Klohin can't seem to tell me anything else. I mean, I'm sure he could if he wanted to, but he's hiding something. All he would tell me is that he doesn't like whatever plan it is that Ghonis has and he won't stand for it." Miles shook his head. He really just didn't understand all of it, though it was clearly important. Why would the Shards be showing him if it wasn't important? More than that though, he wanted to search his parent's documents to see if there was anything about the Aquamarine Shard there. If there was, it would prove that Klohin was real and the Shards were leading Miles to something important. If there wasn't, he'd be able to trust what his mother had told him again. Either option was good, but he really wasn't sure which one he preferred.

"But he's helping Ghonis? Speaking of Ghonis, isn't that the name of the great hero of the Dead War?" Celina pulled a book out of her pack. In fact, it was the history book from the school. She opened it to the index and looked up Ghonis' name. "Yeah. That's what I thought. So then, why doesn't this Klohin kit like his plan?" Celina shook her head, closing the book and putting it back into her pack.

"Because the history books lie." Miles answered. "I told you before, the past that I'm going to is filled with twin-tails like me. The history books of our time don't say anything about my species."

"That's true… How do we know the Shards aren't showing you false images though?"

"We don't unless I can prove it."

"And how are you supposed to do that?"

"Celina, we're going over to Green Island next, okay?"

"Yeah—wait. How are we supposed to get there? We'd need a submarine, which we don't have."

"I do have one." Miles grinned at the look of shock on Celina's face. "Just trust me. Come on." He said, heading outside again. Celina followed him quickly, shaking her head.

"Whatever you say Tails, but I'll bet you don't have one anymore."

"Celina, they couldn't find the room it's hidden in if they tore down my house." Miles grinned and led the way back to his house.

When they arrived the first thing they saw was that the front door had been broken down. Miles sighed. "What a mess!" he said, entering his house and seeing the scattered belongings.

"Wow. Yeah, you definitely don't have a submarine anymore." Celina said, shaking her head and laughing softly.

Inside the house, things were strewn about in a completely disorganized fashion. The desk was in pieces, the secret compartment spilling open to reveal some important paperwork that kept the people of the island from taking the house from Miles. The bookshelves had been toppled, books littering the floor. The couch had holed ripped into it, and every trinket that looked to be of any value was gone.

Miles ignored the mess, walking through like he didn't care. He went through the kitchen, which had been treated the same way, and into his parents old bedroom, which had also been ransacked. He smiled, seeing the room thrown around. "I told you they wouldn't find it." He said as Celina entered the room.

"What are you talking about? This place is trashed!" she replied, looking around. Then she saw Miles, who was tugging at a thin chain that seemed to be attached to the floor. "What are you doing?"

"Help me." Miles didn't even look up, still tugging on the chain. Celina walked over and wrapped her own hands around the chain. Together they pulled open the trap door. Once it was open, Miles sat down to the side and put his feet into the opening. "This used to be hidden under my parent's old bed. It was chained to the bed frame, and you had to move the bed a specific way to open it. Those impatient Birds didn't even see the chain, which was also designed to break if it was moved the wrong way." He said confidently.

"Tails, you're insane." Celina shook her head as Miles disappeared down the hole.

"Come on!" he called back up. Celina stared at the hole for a moment, looked into it, and then jumped down. She landed with a roll and stood up to examine the room she had fallen into.

It looked like a small library, bookshelves lining the walls and full, a desk strewn with all sorts of papers and the like, and a door at the other end of the room. Miles was at the desk already, searching the drawers for something. In the upper right drawer he found what he was looking for—a thin chain. He pulled on it and a secret compartment popped open along the bottom of the desk. He pulled the papers out of this compartment and placed them on top, moving other papers aside. "I never thought to check this one before now…" he muttered to himself, leafing through the old looking papers from the secret compartment. He pulled one out a few seconds later. The paper looked like it was a lot older than some of the others. Miles stared at it for a moment, a look of absolute bewilderment on his face. Celina took the opportunity to sneak in behind him and read what the paper said.

"He was right." Miles said suddenly, tucking the paper back into the stack and putting them all back into the secret compartment.

"What was it?" Celina asked. She hadn't gotten a chance to read any of what the paper had said.

"It was a document giving ownership of the Aquamarine Shard to my father."

After a brief moment of silent shock, Celina spoke. "How did you know it was here?"

"Klohin told me that the Aquamarine Shard was given to the head of the Prower line. He said there should be documentation of it." Miles seemed to be thinking.

"But?" Celina guessed he had more to say, so she prompted him to continue.

"But the Prower line was a prominent _twin-tail_ family. My father only had one tail. So did my mother." Miles thought about it for a few more minutes before shaking his head, clearing away the thoughts of his parents once again. "Come on." He said, leading Celina through the door on the other side of the room. The next room was a workshop with another door at the opposite side. Through that door was a small cavern off of Lake Rocky, where Miles kept the Sea Fox, his submarine.

"Wow! You really do have one!" Celina said, running over to it eagerly. "I thought for sure they would have stolen it!"

"Yeah…" Miles sighed and pulled the piece he'd found at the Armada camp out of his pack. He set to work then, grabbing tools from his workshop and attaching the new piece to his submarine.

"What is that?" Celina asked, watching him.

"It's a weapons system for a submarine." Miles grinned. "I found it back on the mountain."

Celina burst into laughter. "Those idiots just left something like that lying around!?"

"Yeah. I'd been meaning to make one for it anyway, but why not use something already made? It bothers me though… This system is made exactly like I would have made it." Sighing, Miles opened a panel on the front of the submarine and poked a pointed tool around a bit. When he seemed to be done with that, ha crawled into the submarine. Then he came back out, poked around a bit more and replaced the panel. "Okay, it's ready." He said.

"Great, let's go!" Celina replied, a grin on her face. She climbed into the submarine easily, her small stature making it a cinch to get in and out of small spaces like the submarine.

Miles climbed in next and closed the hatch. He headed for the control room and turned the submarine on, a look of concentration on his face. He checked the screen to see if it was okay or not and, after deciding that it was fine, he hit the button that said 'launch'. With a great lurch, the submarine sank below the surface of the water. Celina was plastered to a window, staring out into the lake to see the kinds of creatures that lived there.

"You've never been underwater before?" Miles asked.

"No, never." Celina replied, not once taking her eyes off of the window.

"You'll love this, as long as you're not scared."

"Nope. Water doesn't scare me." Celina grinned as they started moving forward. She'd wanted to do this kind of thing her whole life, but her parents had always been scared that she was going to drown. Her parents couldn't stop her this time, or ever again. Wiping a few tears from her face, Celina put her excited face back on and stared out the window all the way to Green Island.


End file.
